Helping Your Homeschool High Schooler Discover His/Her Gifts

Need help helping your homeschool high schooler discover his/her gifts?

Helping Your Homeschool High Schooler Discover His/Her Gifts

God made each homeschooler (and everyone else, too) with inborn gifts and talents. He knows why He put them there, and the plans He has for your high schooler.

The trouble is: often teens don’t know what their gifts are.

Homeschooling families are in such a great position to help our high schoolers discover their gifts. We have the freedom to develop courses and experiences that help them explore and discover themselves.

You can catch some fun ideas for developing gifts and uniquenesses from our friend, Sue, in this interview on Homeschool Highschool Podcast. Here are some suggestions, based on my 18 years as a counselor and homeschool academic advisor:

-Make sure they know to pray about it

Teens sometimes feel like they have to figure out their future all on their own (or parents feel compelled to do it for them). If they can relax and trust that God has plans, it will help. In order to discover those plans, teens need to feel comfortable talking to God about it. (I recommend giving them some light-hearted practice with our interactive Prayer Journals.)

-Make sure they know God’s voice

The better homeschoolers know God’s voice, the more confident they can be with their explorations. God gave them Scripture for that. I’ve polled lots of local homeschool teens, Bible reading is often neglected… unfortunate. If a teen wants to be sure to recognize God’s voice, he should be very familiar with the way He speaks. He gains this familiarity through Bible reading.

-Have a new experience each month

Do new things, go to new places- even if you don’t think it would be interesting. Going to new things gets the imagination working. Sometimes you meet inspirational people who will be the connection to another new thing. Sometimes the new thing is so awesome your teen will want to try it again… might lead to something.

When you do something new each month, it doesn’t really matter what, just needs to be new. A new field trip, a play, a concert, an interview…anything!  He’ll hate it, like it, or love it- each is fine. When your teen does new things, his imagination goes to work. He’ll come up with other ideas, meet interesting people, maybe make some connections that lead to other things. If you do new things as a family, great bonding experiences can happen.

-Experiment with out-of the box courses

Our various kids have experienced all kinds of courses that go beyond the basics: Cinematography, Drama, Voice, Bell Choir, Photography, Psychology, Human Development, Philosophy, Critical Thinking, Logic, Astronomy, Leadership Skills, Worship Theory, Hermeneutics, Missionary Geography, Barbering, and more. Each course either birthed an “Aha, there’s some gifting here!” or closed the door on the topic. All were enriching. (BTW- Your teen can add an online Psychology course that accompanies the text. Get information on the online Psychology course here.)

Here is a post on how to record non-textbook credits.

-Interview family members about their careers- why they chose it, what they like, what they don’t

Your homeschooler may notice family talents. Here is our free questionnaire about Career Exploration and role models.

-Complete a Career Exploration curriculum

It doesn’t have to be expensive or boring, just needs to explore God’s leading, interests, values, and experiences. This is the curriculum we use with our local homeschoolers- quick, non-intimidating, inexpensive.

Helping your teen discover his/her gifts can help build your relationship! Check this interview with Connie Albers to learn more.

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Helping Your Homeschool High Schooler Discover His/Her Gifts